Why is the Zhongyuan Festival called the Ghost Festival? When will the gates of hell open on July 15, 2019?

Why is the Zhongyuan Festival called the Ghost Festival? When will the gates of hell open on July 15, 2019?
Introduction: The Ghost Festival on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month is also known as the Ghost Festival. So why is the Ghost Festival called the Ghost Festival? When will the gates of hell open on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month in 2019? The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is a traditional Chinese festival - Qixi Festival, also known as Chinese Valentine's Day, which adds a touch of romance to the seventh month of the lunar calendar. Follow Shuimoxiansheng.com and enjoy the romance of the seventh month of the lunar calendar in 2019 with you.

Why is the Zhongyuan Festival called the Ghost Festival?

The traditional "Zhongyuan Festival" is on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month.
Originated from Buddhist scriptures
, it tells the story of Mulian who saw his deceased mother being haunted by hungry ghosts and unable to eat in the underworld, so he asked the Buddha for help. The Buddha was moved by his filial piety and gave him the "Yulanpen Sutra", allowing him to set a vegetarian banquet for his mother on July 15th every year. This tradition was later passed down and became the "Yulanpen Festival".
Buddhism originated in India, but the legend of "Mulian saving his mother" is obviously a Sinicized one, because Mulian's mother's surname was "Liu".
The "Yulanpen Festival" existed during the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang and became mature in the Song Dynasty.
This festival was later adopted by Taoism and became the "Earth Official Festival" among the Three Officials (namely the Heavenly Official, the Earthly Official, and the Water Official) festivals. The Earth Official is in charge of hell, so people made up a story that: on this day the leaders had a day off and hell was unguarded, so the dead in the underworld would return to the human world along the light of the Milky Way. Therefore, every household releases river lanterns in the hope of continuing the Milky Way path among humans and welcoming the heroic spirits of their ancestors.
Therefore, the Ghost Festival is also called the Ghost Festival!

When will the Ghost Gate open during the Mid-July Festival in 2019?

According to traditional Chinese sayings, the first day of the seventh lunar month is the day when the "Gate of Hell" opens.
During the period from the 30th to the day when the gates of hell are closed, when the ghosts from the underworld return to the world of the living to reunite with their relatives, there are also many homeless ghosts. The homeless souls from the underworld will flock to the world of the living, wandering in any accessible place looking for food.
However, the Ghost Gate only opens wide on July 14, and continues to open until July 15, and then slowly closes until July 30.

Analysis on the Ghost Festival:

The Zhongyuan Festival, also known as the ancestor worship festival on the 15th day of the seventh month, is also known as the Ghost Festival, the Zhaigu Festival, and the Earth Official Festival. The main festival customs include worshiping ancestors, releasing river lanterns, worshiping the dead, and burning paper ingots.
The Zhongyuan Festival evolved from the "mid-July" harvest festival in ancient times when people would offer sacrifices to their ancestors.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival for people to celebrate the harvest and thank the earth in early autumn. When some crops mature, people will worship their ancestors and offer new rice as sacrifices to report the autumn harvest to their ancestors. It is a traditional cultural festival that commemorates ancestors, and its cultural core is respecting ancestors and being filial.
The "Mid-July Festival" was originally a folk festival for ancestor worship in ancient times, and it was called the "Zhongyuan Festival" because of the Taoist saying after the Eastern Han Dynasty. Taoism believes that the 15th day of the seventh lunar month is the birthday of the God of Earth. On the day of praying to the God of Earth to forgive sins, the underworld will release all ghosts and the deceased ancestors can return home for reunion. Therefore, the 15th day of the seventh lunar month to worship ancestors is called the "Zhongyuan Festival"; in Buddhism, it is called the "Yulanpen Festival". During the Tang Dynasty when the rulers promoted Taoism, the Taoist Zhongyuan Festival began to flourish, and gradually "Zhongyuan" was fixed as the name of the festival and has been used to this day. The Zhongyuan Festival, Shangyuan Festival and Xiayuan Festival are collectively called the "Three Yuans".

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